Emily Cook was recently crowned Miss Georgia 2009. Over the next several months, Cook will update us on her travels as Miss Georgia across the state and on to the Miss America competition.

1/9/2010

I’m so excited for the next 3 weeks. It’s going to be a whirlwind, but I’m sure it’s also going to be really fun and one of the most memorable time periods of my life!

Today I am emceeing the Miss Rome pageant at 7. I was supposed to go up last night, but this icy grossness kept me home. Thankfully they we’re really understanding and I don’t think the show will be any worse for it. I really love emceeing so I can’t wait for tonight. Now if I can just figure out what to wear….

Stuff for Miss America has started trickling in- my opening number shoes, swimsuit, tidbits of information. I must say I love my Winnwear swimsuit! I’m so excited for the SS part of competition. It’s a very rewarding thing to walk out on that stage when you have literally worked your butt off!

Hope you stayed safe in the ATL’s paralyzing half inch of snow. Hope to see you in Rome tonight!

1/8/2010

I have to have a cute thing to say when I introduce myself at Miss America and I am having writers block. I would like to have a different one each night, it have something to do with Georgia, and be funny/cute.

I would love your thoughts. I know some of you are creative and funny so post a comment on here with your idea. You might just see it on national television!

ex- From the home of the worlds best potatoes, I’m susie Q, miss nebraskahomawashington.

Can’t wait to see what you come up with! (Comment below)

1/2/2010

This week has been a blur of Miss America preparations! I can’t believe it’s getting so close! I know all the other girls are freaking out too, we are all just so excited!

I have done almost all my shopping for the days when I’m out in Vegas, which, to put it mildly, involves a lot of clothes! Now I’m trying to figure out which outfits goes for each event and how in the world I’m going to get it all there. It’s much more difficult to be dressed to the nine’s all the time than it is to be “normal”. —On that note, we were de-Christmasing my house and discovered that Santa left me a present in my stocking. It was a coaster for my car that has a queen on it and the words high maintenance! Now I don’t know where Santa is getting his info, but I’m not high maintenance, being Miss Georgia just requires a lot of maintenance!!!! :) Hopefully Santa means it in a good way!

My new oboe arrangement is AWESOME! I’m actually excited for talent, which is new for me. I still have residual nerd issues from all the time I spent in a band uniform, so for me to love playing a piece of music and feel cool while I do it, is amazing! I literally can’t wait for Tuesday, January 26 and to play my oboe for everyone at Planet Hollywood! (I’m grinning as I write this I’m so happy)

Finally, I had one of my favorite treats today: oreos! The only time I allow myself to have oreos is when I donate blood, because I figure they cancel each other out! So besides saving as many as 3 lives with my donation, I got delicious chocolaty goodness. And the Red Cross is giving out these awesome aluminum water bottles that are very pretty and save the environment, so winners, winners, everywhere!

Till next time.

17 days out btw.

12/29/2009

I am up in the N. Ga mountains tonight spending a little time with my family before the holiday’s are over and everything gets crazy again. I have definitely enjoyed my time off this holiday season. I think it’s good to have a bit of downtime before the last minute prep and especially the week of Miss A gets here, though I’ll admit the task ahead has never left my mind!

So anyway, the whole reason I was writing it because I’m so proud that I made fire! We’re in a log cabin and it’s very chilly up here, so naturally, we need fire. (I’m intentionally omitting the presence high speed internet, central heating, and cable. What can I say? We rough it in style!). Although my dad tried to start it initially, my mom has gently pointed it out that I’ve kept it going! It’s been fun and I feel a little bit like I’m back at summer camp! Who knew that a beauty queen could be a lumberjane too!

Anywho, I’m having fun and hope your holidays are wonderful as well. For the moment, my fire is blazing and Georgia is finally making this game exciting so there is hope for football yet! Have a good night!

12/24/2009

Despite being attacked by mosquitoes on the first day and a hint of a sunburn, my vacation has been phenomenal! This was exactly what I needed before crunch time for Miss A! The food here is so good–still lean protein and veggies—just wonderful flavors I don’t get very often! The company has also been great! I’m definitely making new friends and enjoying some time with old ones. All in all, I’ve done a whole lot of nothing, but that nothing is exactly what I wanted! Beach and playing in the waves is the best way to relax. I also got to catch up on my novel reading. Though not as quick paced as the DaVinci code, The Lost Symbol is very good and a perfect beach read.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, enjoys a little down time, and has a very happy New Year!

12/19/2009

Yesterday I went to the ATL airport and greeted the troops as the came home from Iraq and Afganistan and others who were coming off of leave and heading back. It was a lot of fun and a really rewarding experience!

12/17/2009

So this week has been really focused on getting my body ready for that pesky swimsuit competition!

I’ve been working with Stephen Smith all this week and I must say I’m very sore! He and Roland have very different styles, but both are hard in their own way. Still, I do think they complement each other and make a good team!

Besides focusing on swimsuit, I’ve also been finalizing my music. It has stressed me out more than almost anything so I’m glad the end is in sight! I have a recording session tomorrow so hopefully all my concerns will be assuaged and it’ll be fabulous by the weekend!

This weekend, I’ll be performing at Home for the Holidays at the Anderson Theater in Cobb County. It mostly features Pebblebrook High School, but there will be a performance by the band that performed at Miss Cobb, and by my brother and I! We will be doing this theme and variations on Falala. It should be a nice play on my classical background with a little humor thrown in for good measure.

Hope to see you there!

12/13/2009

Goodness can I say how busy December has been! This week has been another blur of appearances, shopping trips, and work outs. Although it is incredibly busy, it is also a very productive time for me. I am so thankful to have such a great team helping me get ready. It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes 4 states to get me ready for Miss America!

We started interview prep in ernest on Monday and really had a great session. I, for one, really enjoy interview, so these prep session are intense but fun. I have no doubt my team will have me very prepared for January! I’m constantly amazed by the number and quality of the volunteers who sacrafice so much for the girls of the Miss America system. We don’t (and probably can’t) say thank you enough!

I also got to go tour the law firm Alston and Bird in downtown Atlanta. The awesome Trivino brothers have introduced me to so many important connections in Atlanta and this is just another example. I loved meeting with some people who are living my dream! Can’t wait to come back as a law school graduate and get to work! I had dinner on Wednesday night with many of these lawyers on Wednesday at the Capital Club in Atlanta. All I can say is wow. Take me back!!!!!!!!

I finally made it down to the Parlour in Albany to see WC this week too. I believe he was my final wardrobe sponsor to visit, so now I get to find all the missing pieces and parts of my wardrobe! I got three wonderful dresses from WC so many thanks to him and the rest of the staff there!

Today I had another chilly parade. This one being the Bi-City Christmas parade in Phenix City/Columbus. I must have bad parade luck because this one was just as chilly as the one last week–just with the addition of rain! This time I had a lot of friends to commiserate with me in the cold: Miss Alabama, Miss CSU, Southern Rivers, their teens, and I’m sure a lot more I’m not remembering. We did have a good time together though. I really don’t get to spend time with my fellow queens that often, so it was nice to hang out with them for a few hours, even if most of the conversation was about how cold we were and how good coffee was going to be when we got done!

MAO is slowly releasing more information about my trip to Vegas in January which is serving to get me more and more excited! We now have a skeleton of our schedule and our opening number dresses. I’m sure more info will come this week.

Interview tomorrow, a holiday show with my mom, back to Columbus tomorrow night, an oboe lesson and dentist Monday morning, and back to Atlanta Monday night. I’m tired just thinking about it so I’m gonna go ahead and hit the sack.

Have a good weekend!

12/07/2009

The 2010 Miss America Pageant promises to be an exciting event with the announcement of the strikingly diverse panel of national judges. This year’s panel of seven esteemed judges includes a Miss America turned opera singer and philanthropist; an accomplished actress; an Olympic gold medalist; a six-time Grammy nominee; the most listened-to radio talk show host in America; a successful comedian, and an American Idol finalist. They will evaluate the contestants from the preliminaries through the final night of competition, which will be premiering live from Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 8:00PM ET live/PT tape-delayed, exclusively on TLC.

The judges were announced by Sam Haskell, III, Chairman of the Board for the Miss America Organization (MAO), Art McMaster, President and CEO of MAO, and Anthony Eaton, Producer of the 2010 Miss America Pageant. This year’s panel of judges is comprised of experts in each of the fields that a young woman must excel in, in order to be named Miss America. Miss America must be talented, intelligent and well-spoken, a leader, have a commitment to her community, be contemporary in her style and fashion — a relatable and individual ‘it girl’ who can connect with today’s modern woman, as well as being physically fit. To determine who will be Miss America 2010 the following panel of judges has been selected:

From the Field of Beauty - Vivica A. Fox - Fox is an accomplished actress and producer that has appeared on both the small and big screens in every type of genre. She is currently the host of the new reality series, “The Cougar,” and returned for the new 2009 season of Larry David’s HBO hit comedy, Curb Your Enthusiasm as the feisty “Loretta Black.” She is the recipient of numerous awards including the NAACP Spirit Award, the NAACP Image Award and Prism Award, the Trumpet Award for Outstanding Career Achievements in Film, the Lady of Soul Lena Horne Career Achievement Award and an MTV Movie Award. She was also named as one of People Magazine’s fifty most beautiful people.

From the Field of Community Service - Miss America 2002 Katie Harman - Since her year, Harman tours nationally and internationally as an acclaimed classical and operatic vocalist with a myriad of opera and musical theater companies, symphony orchestras, and special events. Also a recording artist and television personality, she can next be seen in a principal role as a singer on HBO’s Big Love (airing March 2010). An active cancer advocate, she serves on numerous boards of cancer organizations and hospitals and is the National Spokesperson for the Touched by Cancer Organization. Additionally, her philanthropic efforts target women’s issues, homelessness, and arts education.

From the Field of Fitness - Shawn Johnson - Johnson is an 2008 Olympic gold medalist for gymnastics. She was named the 79th Amateur Athletic Union Sullivan Award recipient, one of the most prestigious honors in amateur sports and became the youngest ever contestant and season eight champion on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. Johnson is also involved in programs that promote healthy nutrition and exercise and help build good character amongst youth across the country.

From the Field of Talent - Dave Koz - Koz is a six-time Grammy nominee, multi platinum pop instrumentalist. Recently honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Koz hosts an afternoon radio show that’s nationally distributed on the Smooth Jazz Radio Network as well as the syndicated Dave Koz Radio Show, now in its 15th year and airing on weekends in approximately 120 markets. He has served for 17 years as global ambassador for the Starlight Children’s Foundation and is an ongoing member of the Board Of Governors for the Grammy® Foundation.

From the Field of Communications/Interview - Rush Limbaugh - Limbaugh is the outspoken, conservative and ultra-popular host of The Rush Limbaugh Show, an AM/FM radio show about American politics with an audience of 20 million. Limbaugh is involved in charities including the Marine Corps - Law Enforcement Foundation and the Leukemia Lymphoma Foundation. He is a best-selling author and was nominated in 2007 for the Nobel Peace Prize.

From the Field of Entertainment - Paul Rodriguez - Rodriguez is an actor and comedian whose career spans more than two decades and includes starring roles and featured appearances in over 40 films and countless television series and specials. Throughout his career Paul has remained involved with various charitable, civic and educational organizations including the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. As Chairman of the California Latino Water Coalition, Rodriguez was recently honored with a Humanitarian of the Year Award for his work on behalf of water conservation.

From the Field of Creating America’s Rising Talent - Brooke White - White is a singer and songwriter who is most known for her appearance as a finalist on season seven of American Idol. She recently released her debut album, High Hopes & Heartbreak, in which she shares with the world, her love for the music that has shaped her.

12/07/2009

It’s been another busy few days for me!

I drove up to Atlanta on Friday and attended a Christmas party with my parents that evening. Saturday morning wasn’t too early, but man was it cold!!!!! As I got ready in the morning, I even saw snow! Despite it being 31 with a wind chill of 20, my mom and I went to downtown Atlanta for the Children’s Christmas Parade. I had no idea it was as big of a deal as it was! There were giant balloons like at Macy’s (I had Mr. Potato Head behind me), marching bands, dancers, and TONS of people braving the cold! I’m not going to lie…..I was colder than I have been in months. A convertible in a drafty downtown may be a classy way to travel, but it is definitely not the warmest. Still, I made it and finished the parade, smiled and waved my heart out, and hopefully made some people happy along the way.

That evening I participated in the Kingsize Entertainment holiday show. It is an annual show that helps Toys for Tots and I must say it was a great success! I just got word that we raised upwards of 3,500 dollars for ToTs and collected 3 carloads of toys! I actually sang “I’ll be home for Christmas” and helped out the show as much as I could. I think it went well and was definitely well received by the crowd. Great job to all the performers!

11/30/2009

I met with my makeup artist for Miss America on Saturday and we worked on my different looks for Miss A. I’m really excited with what we came up with! Make up isn’t the whole thing, but it is an important part!

On a totally different note, I hope you were able to see the space shuttle and international space station go by on Thursday night. It was SOOOO COOL! If you missed it, maybe there are pictures online. I felt like a little kid staring up at the sky watching two bright lights streak by, but man was it awesome! I guess it’s just that human instinct to explore, but to think that there were people orbiting the Earth in those two little dots was awe inspiring!

Hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

And now on to Holiday Season!

11/24/2009

So in my line of work, I spend a lot of my time doing two things, sitting in traffic and watching the news.

I’m sure everyone knows that Atlanta traffic is right up there with Los Angeles and New York, so it’s no surprise that I spend lots of time in it! In that time, I have started to really observe people and have a couple of thoughts.

1st off, where is everyone going? This may seem a bit of a hypocritical thought for me since I’m driving up and down the state for pageants, but still, at 11pm on a Tuesday, where in the world can this many people be going?

Secondly, we have all heard that texting and driving is just as bad as drinking and driving. So then why do so many people still do it? Literally a day doesn’t go by that I don’t have to pass someone driving slow in the fast lane because they are texting. No message is that important! And, it makes you a bad driver! For the good of everyone, put down the phone!

Lastly, truck drivers are generally some of the best drivers on the road, so maybe they’re just better at talking on the phone and driving, but shouldn’t they have blue tooth or something? I’ve done survey’s while I’m driving, and at least in Middle to South Georgia- 7 out of 10 truck drivers are talking on the phone. I just want to know, who are they talking to?

To conclude my random thoughts of the day, I have a few on politics and clothes. It may seem odd that the two be discussed at the same time, but I bet big money the politicians on Capitol hill think about what they wearing on important days.

Republicans like to wear red. Democrats like to wear blue. I personally think it’s petty, but if you look at some Congressional Coverage from the Health Care debate, you can pick out someone’s affiliation just by what they’re wearing. Also, on days when politicians are trying to be “bipartisian”, (especially for the media), they wear the colors of the opposite party.

One of the four points of our crown in style, so this conversation is not totally out of place. Politicians, please take note: let your words and actions do the talking and not your clothes. I vote for color! I vote for style! I bet most of those guys would look great with some green or purple ties. Maybe even a break away from the white shirt! Ladies, put the power suit aside and go with a pattern; you can still own a room without a power suit!

I want to be on Capitol Hill some day, so politicians, get ready!

Thanks for listening, don’t text and drive, and have a great Thanksgiving week!

11/20/2009

This week has been absolutely crazy! Another bazillion miles added to my car and visited a number of cities across GA. This is really intense and I can only imagine keeping this kind of pace up for months on end! New found respect for Miss America! (Go Katie!)

A definite highpoint of this week was my visit to Reynolds plantation. The entire staff and group of residents made every effort to make me feel like a VIP. I played golf with 6 ladies from the Plantation Ladies Club and one of the female golf pro’s. We only got 12 holes in before it started raining, but we had a great time and I even outdrove the pro a number of times! Miss Georgia has officially gotten street credit for her golf game!!! Later that evening the ladies took me out to dinner and introduced me to the culinary staff. They knew I liked to cook so the chefs prepared a couple of dishes that were figure friendly for me and still incredibly delicious! I stayed the evening in one of the cottages they have there. The cottages are immaculately designed and truly awesome to stay in! I hope I get to go back soon! Wednesday I spoke at the Ladies Luncheon and played my Miss America piece for the first time in public! It went really well and was well received (which is almost more important).

Thursday I was in Albany for the PX grand opening at the Marine Corps Base. My very first appearance as Miss GA was at this base so it was really special to go back there. I saw some of the staff and marines that made my first visit so nice and made new friends too! Mandy Cavanaugh was my chaperone and we had fun until she got stung by a bee! On the head! I did my very best primate grooming impersonation and took the stinger out of her hair! I felt so bad for her, but she told me this morning that the swelling is finally going down.

Last night I went to this really awesome event in Buckhead for a special type of wine from France. It was put on by the French American Chamber of Commerce and I have to say I was really impressed, not only by the scale of the event, but because they asked me to be there. It’s not the normal or usual group that invites Miss Georgia to events, but I think that’s a really good sign. All of the people there now know about Miss America and Miss Georgia so this is a step forward! I hope this is

11/16/2009

Just kidding. It does sound a little bit like a math problem from school though.

This past week and this coming week are by far the most intense I have had as Miss Georgia. I have gotten to do some very cool things though!

Last Thursday, I was a guest on the Fun 101.1 morning radio program in Thomaston, Ga. I had met Bill Bailey, the host, at the Cattlebarron’s Ball last weekend, so it was a lot of fun talking with him for a bit. I then drove home for to relax for a few hours before an event at Dogwood restaurant in downtown for Blue MedSpa. The event was filled with many of Atlanta’s elite and I even made friends with a graduate of UM’s Music school! He works in music production here in Atlanta and it was so very cool to meet another Hurricane who still loves his school as much as I do!

Friday I drove down to Statesboro to go see Scott Marchbanks at Frill’s and Fancies. The dress shop is beautiful and one of the biggiest I have been too! Scott and the staff were so accomodating and really made me feel welcome. I left with some wonderful treasures!

After a quick stopover in Columbus, I drove with Janie Gregory from the Miss Georgia board to Alapaha, GA for the Alapaha Celebration. Although you can search for Alapaha on Google maps, you cannot see any the roads or buildings because the town is so small! Thankfully Janie had been there before so she could tell me where to go! I was Grandmarshall of the parade and then I signed autographs and took pictures with the people there.

Although this town is very small, this celebration was HUGE! I came to understand that all of the children that have moved away over the years always come back for this one weekend in November. It’s sort of like the town’s Thanksgiving or Homecoming. It was so cute because they have an oldfashioned dance on Saturday night, official town beauty queens, and one of the Seniors from the high school driving Miss Georgia. He had only had his license for one day but he was a great driver!

11/09/2009

The past week has been incredibly intense as far as the Miss America prep goes. I started training full time with Roland and I must say, he is TOUGH! I am still enjoying my workouts, it’s just a long and a very strenuous process.

Friday night I was treated like a queen at the Countryside festival in Butler, GA. When I got there, they had a red convertible and two police cars escort me through the town with the sirens blaring! It was so funny! To say it is a big deal when Miss Georgia comes to town in Butler is an understatement!. I heard that Butler has the longest or one of the longest running arrangements with Miss Georgia and has had her come to the Countryside festival for somewhere around 40 years! Once I was there, I signed autographs and posed for pictures then judged the Miss Countryside festival. There were 34 beautiful little girls in 4 categories and I think everyone had fun! My fellow judges were also very familiar to me as they were Ms. Helen Turner from the Miss Georgia Board and my roomie from Miss Georgia, Jessica Scott! I had so much fun with them!

Saturday I had a Christmas photo shoot with two of my favs, Matt and Meredith Boyd. We had a great time goofing off in Santa hats and playing with over-sized ornaments while trying to look regal! Many thanks to the Boyds for volunteering their time and talents for this! I can’t wait to see the results!

Saturday evening I went to the Cattlebarron’s Ball in Peachtree City which raised money for the American Cancer Society. It was western themed so wearing jeans to a fancy ball was a nice change! My friend Sara who also went to UM and now teaches up in Cobb County now was my chaperone and an excellent one at that! Someone even asked if she was my body guard!!! We had such a great time dancing to country music and helping with the auction items. I believe this event, which has been going on for 7 years, crossed the 1,000,000 dollar mark this year so many congratulations to them!!!!

As for today, I just got done exercising and now I’m trying to rest up a little bit before a dinner tonight and a return to Columbus tomorrow. It has been nice seeing my family this weekend and a welcomed diversion for me!

Hope your week is wonderful and tomorrow isn’t too Rainy!!!

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11/02/2009

I just had a wonderful weekend with Mom, Dad, and Tom. All in all it was very relaxing and a lot of fun, yet there were snippets of excitement throughout!

During the day on Saturday, I did one of my favorite things- watch college football! Lazy Saturdays just might be one of the best things ever. It’s even better when my teams do well! After a disappointing game performance last week, Auburn looked amazing this week and had a well deserved win! My Hurricanes did not look quite so good, however they came to play in the second half and won our game against Wake Forest in the end. (I’m purposely not going to mention Georgia-Florida….)

Saturday night was a fun night out for Halloween! Tom and I were Cinderella and Prince Charming, and I must say, we looked good! My mom made both of our costumes while I was in charge of the decorations. I didn’t even know what epaulets were, so I am very proud of the marvelous epaulets on Prince Charming! You may also notice the sash (I have experience with those) and the medals. The medals are all band medals I wore, which Tom insisted lowered his “cool” quotient substantially! Even if he wasn’t cool, we looked every inch our characters!

(picture will come soon. I cannot get it to upload right now)

Sunday, we goofed off in Piedmont park for a bit, watched more football (life is good), and my dad did some more barbecuing, this time, two whole chickens on the smoker. After they were done and he was separating out all the meat, he decided to make a family pile and a beauty queen pile. The all white meat, deboned, and skinless pile was off limits for everyone but me, so I have delicious and healthy leftovers for the whole week. My dad tried to sneak a piece of mine later on in the night and found the wishbone in the bite he took! I laughed and blamed karma and he said he made a wish on the wishbone anyway. It was very funny at the time. Words don’t do it justice.

Big workouts start tomorrow so world, here I come!

10/27/2009

For whatever reason, the past week or so has been totally killer! I’ve had lots to do and lots of preparation, so I can definitely tell it’s getting closer!!

On Tuesday, I was at the Children’s Miracle Network hospital in Columbus where I played with a couple of kids and gave TV interviews. Because of swine flu, I could only play with the healthiest kids, which happened to be a boy and a girl. This would have been fine, except the boy wanted absolutely nothing to do with “the girl with the sparkly hat!” So, he played with trucks while the little girl and I played this game called frog tennis. They definitely did not have frog tennis when I was growing up, but I wish they had! It was really fun!!!

After the hospital, I went to a local radio station where they were having a radiothon for CMN. There, I did an interview with each radio station that was there and just tried to raise the profile of the event however I could. I really enjoyed the radio interviews and hope I get to do more like that again. Thought I did surprisingly well! (For a first timer)

Thursday was spent at Fort Benning where I visited with a bunch of veterans from WWII and Korea. I really treasure the appearances I have with troops, young or old! They really make me feel so special an appreciated, which is incredibly humbling since they are the heroes who have literally saved the country! These guys were rangers who jumped out of airplanes on DDay, the Battle of the Bulge, and a campaign called the Varsity. It was a really great appearance both for me and the people there. Also got to hang out with a former Miss Cobb and Miss Georgia, Marilyn Ashmore. She was my chaperone and it was great getting to know her!

Saturday I went to STRIDES against breast cancer at Atlantic station. I love big walk events because the atmosphere is so warm and loving. The volunteers were great and made me feel very welcome. They let me address the crowd (which was very big) and then I just took pictures and shook hands. I’m really happy that I’m starting to no longer get nervous speaking ad lib in front of large groups. This is the skill I was hoping most to gain from this experience, so I’m glad it’s starting to come to fruition!

After an overly long hiatus, I finally got to play golf on Sunday!!!!! It’s been forever because of rain and my schedule so playing on such an incredible fall day was fabulous. …….Now if only I had played really well!

Last night I did my very best Vanna White impersonation at the Cobb Ovation awards. It’s basically like the Cobb County Arts Oscars and I was one of the pretty girls who gives the winner the award and escorts them off stage. Casy Walker, Miss Cobb, and Brianna Godshalk, Miss GA OT, where the other pretty girls and, as usual, we talked way too much and had a great time! I got to wear my Georgia dress again and had forgotten how pretty it is! I love that dress!

As for today, I’m off to the gym, then I’m working on halloween costumes!! YAY!!

10/19/2009

This weekend was very busy….and very cold!

Saturday morning started off very early with an appearance at the first annual Tour de Pink in Atlanta. It was run by the Young Survivor’s Coalition and a HUGE success!!!! There were about 340 riders and they raised over $130,000 for breast cancer awareness! The only downer in this incredible event was the cold. I cannot put into words how cold it was while we were out there! Luckily there was a boy scout troop who had brought a mobile campfire, so I made friends with the boy scouts. In actuality, the boy scouts were scared of me, but the girl scouts were adorable and followed me around all morning! They had a million questions and were so genuinely curious about what Miss Georgia was and what I did, they were just wonderful! Really made me appreciate what I have and the possibilities this organization has for the girls of tomorrow.

After getting slightly warmer during the middle of the day, I went to downtown Atlanta for a Fashion Show. It was super fun to pretend to be a model! :) Here are some pictures from the fabulous collection!

10/07/2009
So after 4 long days of being ill, I’m finally back up to 100% and not having enough hours in the day to do what I want/need too!

Last night I went to go see Rain, a Beatles tribute band, with some of my friends– lawyers naturally :) I honestly have not been out with friends, as Emily and not Miss GA, in so long! I had the best time goofing off at the concert and then going to a tapas restaurant near the Fox called TOP FLR. I drive past it every day on the way back from the gym, so it was nice to just go hang out! Rain was good but the company was even better.

Right now I’m just getting in from the Marietta Rotary where I was the speaker today. I wrote my speech yesterday and was really prepared, however I was surprisingly nervous. Not in the bad way, I can’t move nervous, just nervous in the sense that I really wanted to do a good job in front of these incredible community and business leaders that I so admire. I think it went really well and was even better received! I also played my Carmen oboe piece for them and they loved that! Carmen probably went about as well as it could have. I want some more pieces to have in my back pocket, however, for just being super sick and unable to play, it went great.

On a more solemn note, I saw this photo today and it nearly made me cry. 8 years in Afghanistan and 6 years in Iraq.

Thank you to all of the men and women in uniform and the countless families who are making the sacrifice right now.

10/1/2009
Today I’ve been to Columbus and back, been to a breast cancer luncheon, and played Barbie at lasting impressions.

For whatever reason, even though I got up at the right time, I felt rushed all morning! Once I finally got to the luncheon (only 2 minutes early–waaaay to late for me!) I did enjoy it greatly! I sat a table with the speaker, a former Miss North Carolina and people from the Columbus Regional Health Foundation. The speaker was fabulous and soooo funny! It was a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Awareness and was attended over 1,000 people! Go Columbus!!

I also had lots of fun at Lasting Impressions and am super excited about the possibilities ahead!!!!! (Yes I’m being intentionally vague–Miss America stuff!)

Finally home and super tired! New day tomorrow!

9/29/2009
I seriously enjoyed it!

This morning I went out and appreciated the AMAZING weather we’ve been having with a morning jog and then a walk with my dog. (As Brianna put it, the only long term relationship I’ve ever had!)

My mom, being the awesome mom that she is, has finished my arrangement of music for Miss America and I am so excited! It is truly a fantastic arrangement and I am more excited about this than I ever was for the Carmen! I’ve already started practicing and I know it’s simply going to be great! Who knows? Maybe the oboe will be cool!!!!!

Tomorrow I’m going to be at the Marietta Business Expo and Wednesday I’m starting off Breast Cancer Awareness month with a luncheon down in Columbus. So excited for October! It is for sure going to be the best month yet as Miss Georgia.

For all the ladies out there! Take care of yourself and do your monthly self check! It is quick, painless, and can save your life!

In short: Check your Boobies!!!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day and gets to enjoy the fabulous fall weather!

9/27/2009
Just had such a moving experience at Archiver’s scrapbooking store. I go there all the time anyway, but I saw that they were having a scrapbooking session dedicated to breast cancer awareness today so I figured I’d stop by. Everyone there was wearing pink and Archiver’s had special paper and stickers and such that were for survivors, families, and friends. I went by just to go say hi and tell the women how much their fight meant to me and I ended up taken photos and talking with them for almost an hour. Funny how you can get a bunch of women together (and one guy!) and there are going to be tears, smiles, and laughs, even if you have just met. I will get to see some of these ladies again at the Atlanta 2-day, Tour de Pink, and Avon walk coming up later in the month.

So very thankful for everything that I have and the many opportunities I have to meet wonderful people like I did today!!

9/25/2009
I had sooo much fun at the fair tonight! The fair pageant itself was run very well and I was quite impressed with the number and quality of girls that attended! (Hopefully they start Miss GA prelims next!) I always have such a great time with the Cobb folks!

After finishing up the judging, I got to play fair games….lame but so much fun, and I won a 8 inch purple snake! Only cost me 5 dollars and 3 games!

Tomorrow starts the Capital City craziness! So excited to emcee and be a part of this pageant!

9/22/2009

I had the pleasure of speaking with a group of middle and high school age kids today at a Junior Cotillion. It was surprisingly fun and I only made one major faux pas!!! I wasn’t quite sure what topics to speak on. Oh well! This is how you learn!

I gave a short speech on the importance of good manners and such, but the funniest part by far was the question and answer session at the end. There were these 4 boys (maybe 11 or 12) who asked maybe a dozen questions. Anyone else could hardly get a word it! It’s so funny how the demographics of a group work out sometime. I think only one girl asked a question the whole time!

Anywho, the entire event was fun and hopefully I gained a few more fans who will cheer me on in January! And you never know, one of those girls might be a Miss Georgia sometime in the future!!!

9/20/2009

I’m having a severe case of writer’s block as I attempt to launch my website idea for local breast cancer survivors. Although I am fairly computer literate, I must have not been paying attention in class on the day when they taught us how to do this! I’m sure they actual process is not as difficult as I am building it up to be, however the sum total of the project just seems so huge to me, I’m having a hard time taking that initial step.

I’ve asked for some guidance from the webmaster of the Miss Cobb County website so hopefully she’ll make me feel a little better and light a fire underneath me! I really want to do this project, I’m just unsure where to start!!!

On another note, this week is super busy! Tomorrow I’m speaking at a Junior Cotillion meeting, which is pretty funny, because I was actually in Junior Cotillion when I was younger and hated going because I had to wear a dress!!! My how things have changed!

Wednesday I think I get to the Alliance Theater’s production of Come Fly With Me, which should be awesome because I’m a total sucker for Sinatra.

Thursday is Miss North Georgia State Fair. Haven’t been to the fair in probably 10 years and I’ve never judged a pageant, so that should be super fun!

And finally, on Saturday I’m emceeing Miss Capital City. I love to emcee so I’m really looking forward to it!

If you have any ideas for the website or helpful hints, please leave a comment or shoot me a message on facebook.

And just in case you didn’t notice, the University of Miami is ranked #9 in the most recent AP Poll. I’m so excited, however I feel a jinx coming on!

9/18/2009

Besides the complete pummeling of my body this morning by my trainer, my birthday was lovely!

My mom and I did a little shoe shopping in the afternoon and then I went to Archivers for some scrapbooking supplies to celebrate. I’m positively addicted to scrapbooking! I’m always on a mission for more crown stickers so today’s discovery of a new design of silver crowns was a real delight!

Tomorrow’s my first totally free day in about a week and normally I would go play some golf, but it’s rainy….and supposed to continue to be rainy for another 6 days! I simply don’t know how to kill time without golf!

For now, I’m gonna continue to cheer on my Canes and hope for a birthday win!!!

Cheers!

9/11/2009

So the past week has been a little slow! October is a very busy month for me, so I’m trying to enjoy my time off, but I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little jealous of the other titleholders getting to do cool stuff!!!! In the meantime, my trainer is coming up new and every more painful ways to get me in to shape. If you are the type to invest in the stock market, I would recommend Themacare and Aleve. Getting very good at golf though!

Round tomorrow with the parents and the Cobb Energy celebration on Saturday.

Happy Friday!

9/08/2009

Hope everyone has had a great weekend! I really enjoyed my Labor Day weekend with my family; even Harrison came up from Columbus.

Although I didn’t have much to do Miss Georgia wise, however, I did get to do many super fun with the family.

I made a quick visit down to Columbus to visit Tate and her family and even made a new friend in her 18 month old grand baby!!!! She has the cutest grandkids!

On Saturday, I went hunting for the first time. Scary as it sounds, it was incredibly fun! My dad has been going forever and my brother recently started going with him. Last year, I think empty nest syndrome kicked in hard for my parents because even my mom went! This year it was my turn to join the ranks of the hunters and despite my trepidations, it was awesome! We actually got enough birds to have a nice dinner some time and I even got 2! And for the record, I wore lipgloss!!!

Yesterday and today have been full of golfing and I tied my personal best today with a four over par 9 holes.

All in all, a fabulous weekend, but it’s back to working hard tomorrow!!!

9/08/2009

Hope everyone has had a great weekend! I really enjoyed my Labor Day weekend with my family; even Harrison came up from Columbus.

Although I didn’t have much to do Miss Georgia wise, however, I did get to do many super fun with the family.

I made a quick visit down to Columbus to visit Tate and her family and even made a new friend in her 18 month old grand baby!!!! She has the cutest grandkids!

On Saturday, I went hunting for the first time. Scary as it sounds, it was incredibly fun! My dad has been going forever and my brother recently started going with him. Last year, I think empty nest syndrome kicked in hard for my parents because even my mom went! This year it was my turn to join the ranks of the hunters and despite my trepidations, it was awesome! We actually got enough birds to have a nice dinner some time and I even got 2! And for the record, I wore lipgloss!!!

Yesterday and today have been full of golfing and I tied my personal best today with a four over par 9 holes.

All in all, a fabulous weekend, but it’s back to working hard tomorrow!!!

9/03/2009

I had the pleasure of playing a round of golf with my dad today and it got me thinking about what lessons sports, and golf in particular, can teach us.

For those of you who don’t know, I used to play very competitive golf. At one point I even made it to the individual state championships and placed third, however a bad cheating experience changed my philosophy on the competitiveness of golf. For me, golf is about individual improvement and the enjoyment of being outside. In high school, I decided to focus on music more than golf, yet the love of the game never left me. It is always something I can come back to. A consistent friend in an inconsistent world.

Playing today with my dad, I was reminded of the lessons I have learned playing golf and how they translate to the rest of my life.

1. Take some time for yourself. My life gets continually more busy and complicated, and sometimes I forget to take care of me and just to reflect of what is going on in my life. The quiet solitude of golf forces me to get away from the cellphones, computers, and televisions that permeate my life. This time today really gave me some perspective, not only on how fortunate I am to have the opportunities I do, but just how lucky I am to enjoy it. So many people have wonderful opportunities and lives but for whatever reason, just don’t enjoy it. I’m lucky in that I love being Miss Georgia. And more importantly, I love being Emily Cook.

2. Have confidence in yourself. Last time I practiced golf, I was pretty terrible. Not beating around that bush. I was terrible. Even with my recent bad practice, today I had to continually tell myself that I could hit the next shot well. This particular lesson is especially pertinent, simply because in life (and beauty pageants!) we don’t always get the results we want, i.e. the prelim award or a bad performance in swimsuit. The constant challenge for us is to forget the past and have confidence in our ability to make the next shot or event our personal best.

3. Visualize what you want. One particular bad habit I have is expecting the worst to happen. Probably the most important lesson I learned from golf is if you think you’re going to go in the water/sand/hazard, you probably will. Time and time again, I have watched this happen. It took years of practice before I finally learned that visualizing what I want to happen is nearly as important as executing the shot correctly. This lesson goes hand in hand with number two, but even if you don’t think you can do it, you need to imagine yourself getting that A or winning that title in order for it to even have the possibility of being a reality.

I think that’s all the insight I have for today. Heading down to Columbus tomorrow then back up here Friday.

Have a great night!

8/28/2009

So I got to say “Play Ball” at the Braves game last night! It was seriously one of my dreams! My mom, dad, and one of my friends from Miami went with me and made the game so much more fun!

I spent much of yesterday afternoon getting stuff to make a jersey that said Miss Georgia. You know when you have a really easy word or phrase to spell and you can misspell it if you’re not careful? We’ll I was so terrified I was going to iron on letters that said ‘Miss Gorgeia’ or something I triple checked myself!! Thankfully, I didn’t misspell it and it came out really cute! Paired with my crown, Miss Georgia was rockin’ it at the Braves game!

We were met at the field by non other than my roommate from Miss Florida 2008, Audra Martin! We hadn’t seen each other in forever so we gabbed the entire night. I got to go on the field, (literally 6 feet from the players), and say “Play Ball Ya’ll!” After much consideration with my dad, we decided to add the ya’ll, since we’re in Georgia and I’m Miss Georgia. I got a little chuckle out of the crowd.

8/24/2009

This weekend was incredible…and incredibly busy!

Saturday morning I was the emcee for Little Miss Atlanta and had a great time not only helping out with the pageant, but also just hanging out with the contestants, their parents, and the Miss Atlanta people. I think it went really well and it was a nice, “easy” event for me, which made it all the more enjoyable.

Saturday night was also really fun for me because I got to get really dolled up! I finally got to wear this black velvet backless dress I have been dreaming of! I totally felt like a rockstar in it, and although it may have been a tad risque for Marietta, Ga, overall I think it went over well.

The American Cancer Society Swordsman’s Ball was a wonderful event with a huge crowd in attendance, a silent and live auction, and a number of speakers. They recognized a few people for their work in the area to not only help the ACS, but also just bettering the community through their service and spirit. I was able to do this event last year as Miss Cobb, so going this year as Miss Georgia was especially meaningful. I made the closing remarks for the program, which was incredibly nerve racking because it was right after a cancer survivor gave her life story! People often say “never share the stage with kids or pets because they steal the show.” I’m going to add “never speak immediately after a cancer survivor, because no matter what you say, you will feel inadequate!!” Despite that, I felt the short speech went incredibly well and was well received. My mom and dad were in the audience so I had to try hard not to look at them so I wouldn’t lose focus! Loved that they were there though.

After a quick drive from the Swordsman’s Ball to Miss Atlanta, I made a quick cameo on stage and then visited with the girls backstage. Probably my favorite part of the job is just visiting with the people that make Miss Georgia and all the franchises tick. There were some of my favorite girls backstage and even though I didn’t get to see it, I know Miss Atlanta was a very tough competition! Congrats to Laura and the rest of the Atlanta court! Keep up the good work and I’ll hopefully see some of you at Miss Thomasville!

8/21/2009

So swimming at the Georgia Aquarium was the coolest thing ever! Seriously. Major thank you to Theresa Patton, the Georgia Aquarium and the Miss Georgia board for helping me do this! Yayayayayaya!!!!

8/19/2009

Last week I made an exciting trip to Orlando to support Miss Georgia's Outstanding Teen, Brianna Godshalk, as she competed at Miss America's Outstanding Teen. First off, Brianna performed brilliantly and truly represented Georgia well! She also earned a full scholarship to Troy State University in Alabama, which I know she (and her parents) are thrilled about!

I also got to bond with many of the contestants for Miss America. Throughout the week all 53 of us were together for a TLC taping, a photo shoot, and various trips and appearances around Orlando. My favorite activity was definitely going on a VIP tour experience at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. The VIP experience was sooooo much fun! No lines and lots of photo ops!

Today, I'm going scuba diving at the Georgia Aquarium! I am so very excited about this and have to say many thanks to the Miss Georgia Board, the Georgia Aquarium, and the Atlanta Georgia Constitution for setting this up. I gave the Miss Georgia Board a "bucket list" of things I wanted to do during my year as Miss Georgia, and this is the first item we have accomplished! Look for a spread in the AJC sometime this week!

8/11/2009

The past few days have been insane and it's only going to get crazier from here!

The Miss GA team and I have been working hard to get my wardrobe ready for MAOT (Miss America Outstanding Teen). Totally loving the clothes!

Also spent much of the week in Marietta preparing for Miss Cobb. Thanks to the Terry Chandler and Playwright players, I think I can say I am the first person to play bluegrass oboe!! I was super nervous about the opening number, but I felt like it went really well and I had a lot of fun! Kandice and the girls did a great job in creating an entertaining and impressive show. Congrats to Casy too. I had a fabulous time being Miss Cobb and wouldn't be Miss GA today if it weren't for their support and confidence in me.

Off to MAOT early tomorrow. Gooooooo Brianna!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8/04/2009

Hi all!

I’m in Columbus for a few days after a very busy weekend!

On Sunday, the Miss Cobb County board hosted a homecoming reception for Brianna and I. It was really exciting and very well put together. Brianna and I received two beautiful pictures from Meredith and Matt Boyd (of us of course), commendations from the Cobb County Board of Commissioners and Mayor, and mini theater show put on by a kids camp. I would have to say that I have never had 30+ kids (or anyone for that matter) sing and dance for me so it was a brand new experience! After the show, there was a reception where we got to mix and mingle with lots of friends and family. I’m growing to love these get togethers with all the Georgia pageant family. They are seriously turning into some of my favorite people!

For now, it’s off to a luncheon and interview and then shopping for Miss America’s Outstanding Teen clothes! Definitely one of my favorite parts of the job is the shopping!!!!!

7/29/09

So Miss Warner Robins was super fun and went really smoothly considering it was my first pageant where I was the emcee! Congrats to Tara and Taylor! Also had a wonderful time getting to know Amanda. She really made my life so much easier and was awesome to be around!

So as many of you know, I was super excited about the theme for Warner Robins- Legally Blonde. Well I had a wonderful time dressing up for that theme and telling blonde jokes with Amanda, but it seems the peroxide has sunk in….I left my makeup somewhere in Warner Robins, and let me tell you, a Miss Georgia without her makeup is like a fish out of water! Hopefully some new makeup will show up in a few days!!!